Do you know the flair of your friendly RPG shop next door. Where you hang around, talking with the owner about which system is better, what to buy, and how some other players suck? Have you ever made contact with other players there? Even found a new group to play with? Or took a look at those boards, with player/group requests, most of them horribly outdated?

Now Akorians Emporium is almost like that ... just a magic shop... for adventurers between quests. Come in, buy some great sword+1, or even order a special crafted magical item. Make some small talk about the adventuring business with Eirian. Or other customers. Maybe forge connections, that will result in going on a quest together?

Ah, you have found my shop? Yes I know, a few years ago, when my father was still alife, this was THE place to go to aquire all high quality magical equipment for the adventurous soul. And I swear, it will be again, one day. During those glorious days, the whole house, was filled with large sales rooms and eagerly working artificers. Now, most of the rooms are rented to students from the magical academies of Absalom. My mother, Dana Avenstar is taking care of this side of our business, while the shop has shrunken.

What, you ask about me? Well, I'm Eirian, Eirian Avenstar. And when I'm not studying at the Clockwork cathedral, or tinkering on some new project of mine, I'll help out at the desk of our shop. This might change soon though. After all, a shop is only as good as its wares, and thus I'm looking for opportunities to travel with adventurers, that are heading to nearby localities. My help deciphering those tricky magical texts and weird technomagical contraptions is not due to pure altruism though. Of course I try to find trading partners, or rare artefacts, or even just ressources to be used in my own experiments.

So if you happen to visit our store for a chat, or better yet to buy something, or if you need technomagical assistence, feel free to ask.

Background

When Dana Avenstar, daughter of Lord Tylvran Avenstar and Akorian Leroung of house Tevineg started to see each other it was the talk of the city. Despite being an unlikely couple, Dana and Akorian proved to be able to overcome prejudices and superstitions, and married. And as if that wasn't enough, they also started a veritable economic endeavour: Akorians Emporium of All Things Magical.

Years passed like the ships passing the floatsam graveyard. The emporium developed from a small shop run by the two into into THE largest specialist trader for high quality (and price) magical equipment. Of course the connections to both the kyonian as well as the cheliaxian houses helped significantly in this. It was the dream of every adventurer to loot a dragons lair... and then shop at Akorians. There was no item of power that could not be if not bought outright then commissioned at the Emporium. It was only a matter of time that Akorian would be reognized as a trademaster.

The couples life became one of those stories that ended with „they lived happily ever after“, or so it seemed, when finally in 4700 their first (and only) child was born: Eirian Avenstar. Showing the mixture of her parents heritage: the violet atzlani eyes, the light chelixian skin, slightly pointed ears, and even at young age the natural grace and lovelyness of her her mother. Everything seemed to be set for a bright future.

And then came the Devils Night. While the emporium was extremely well suited to weather any such storm, it was also a prime target for anyone seeking to use the opportunity of a distracted guard. Akorian led a small but powerfull group of friends from his adventuring days, who managed to fend of the rioting groups. Sadly he was wounded during the brawls, and despite the best efforts, died from the poison. Rumor has it, that the attack was a bit too coordinated to be anything but a hidden effort to keep him from becoming trademaster.

With Akorians death darker days decended upon the emporium. While Dana was able to keep the business alife, any chance to become recognized as a trademaster evaporated. In a long and slow decline, Akorians Emporium turned from a jewel of Absalom to a mere shiny stone. Dana had to cut down on expenses, trying to not let her daughter see much of the problems. Though slowly over time, the lack of investments has left the emporium a mere shadow of its former self.

Eirian meanwhile has prospered. Showing a creative and brilliant mind from early age, she has shown much promise in the magical arts and more mundane crafting. Her abilities earned her a membership with the Mithral Madmen as well as respect from some younger casters and artisans. If her father was still alife, she would probably continue her studies at the cathedral or one of the other academies of the cities. But as it stands, her mother can barely keep the emporium from sliding further into obscurity. Eirians help is needed, to get the ship back afloat.

Appearance

This image was commissioned by me from the the amazing Serena Verde. It's strictly limited to my own private use, so please do NOT copy it.

Eirian Avenstar, a mere 16 years young, is the love child of an kyonian artist and magical crafter and her husband a chelish scholar and merchant. This odd mixture of elvish, partly even pixie blood and the aztlanian heritage running deep in her chelaxian side has resulted in a interesting physique. Lithe of build, and with a face as soft and cute as her voice, she is often underestimated in her skills. But anyone able to see, will recognize the curiosity and intelligence burning in her dark blue almost violet eyes. Unlike most elves, she sports a sweet smattering of freckles around her nose.

Born in the city of Absalom, she has shown to be a prodigy in the mechanical as well as the magical arts. One of the youngest students of the Clockwork Cathedral to ever graduate to the higher studies, she is assumed to rise in the ranks of the artificer guild rather quickly. Thus it is uncommon to see her without the signs of her trade, some small clockwork contraption or another. Her style of clothes is usually as simple but practically as her coppery/auburn hair. Still while she might not follow the trends of la moda, or intent to catch the eyes of young men, her natural grace, and the pragmatic body-hugging nature of her clothes (you do not want to have a long flowing robe get caught in a large clockwork apparatus) emphasize her young slender, slightly tomboyish body just in the right way.

Personality

Sadly none of the interested boys (or girls) has yet been able to find the right key to her heart. It seems as if she is (till now) almost oblivious to the meanings of the hidden or even open compliments given to her. Like a young budding cherry tree, she is at the brink of blossoming, opening up like a flower her petals for the sun. A sweet tease to all the bumblebees looking for nectar, to drink deep from the Calistrias and Shelyns blessings of love and lust. They have to wait... just a little while longer.

Coming to the gods, Eirian surely isn't one of the most devote of followers. Some would even say, her sceptic scientific mind is headed towards agnosticism. Which is not an easy task, living in a city where anyone could attempt the trial of the cathedral of the starstone... and return as a deity him or herself. Who knows, if Eirian herself wont one day attempt this feat? Just out of spite of the uncaring gods? But not yet, not given her age and inexperience.

If there are gods that have importance to Eirian, it should be Shelyn goddess of art, beauty and love, Desna goddess of the stars, travel and luck, and lastly Calistria with her lighter aspects of knowledge, trickery and lust. Though none of even these three is really touching Eirians heart in a way that would kindle the flame of true faith. As the aspects Eirian herself holds most dear are creativity, invention and curiosity, which are yet not represented by any deity.

Age-Important!

Eirian is only 16 years, which being a half-elf means she is not an adult yet. I will NOT play any sexual interactions with her. If you ask for it, I'll point you to this disclaimer once. There will be no second warning sorry to say so. Eirian will become an adult once she reacher 20 years old ingame. Only once this has happend, she might, or might not, engage in sexual activities.

Back Room

You want to buy that "potion of partial flesh to stone" *wink wink*, and do not want that stu... nice little kid gawking at the magical chocolate frogs overhearing your order? Well just head over to that curtain with the "adults only" sign.

Though she'd been to Absalom a few times before in her life, this trip was the first that saw Carmelita feeling confident enough to navigate the place on her own. She knew which districts to avoid and which to charm into seeing her upcoming performances. The Ivy District was a given, despite being home to competition from rival acts. It was also a home to bawdy houses, galleries, bards, and sex workers. The kind of people that lived here were the ones that would usually be quite easy to persuade with her exotic looks, her charm, and a bit of showiness. The Petal District and Wise Quarter were relatively easy sells too, as the residents tended to appreciate the finer things in life...something she was often perceived as, due to her heritage. Being a musetouched aasimar was pretty much cheating when it came to drawing folks in.

Of course, while those in the Ivy District were easy to lure in due to their desire to see a pretty woman in flattering attire, Carmelita knew better than to try such tricks over in The Coins. Over there, she'd be seen as good entertainment by some and a monetary opportunity by others. She'd was in the process of mentally scratching that one off her list when she noticed the sign to one "Akorian's Emporium". Had she stopped her in her younger years?

She reasoned that the answer didn't actually matter, nor did the fact that she'd be window shopping more than likely. Places like these were built to cater to high-powered mages and other adventurers. Still...as a budding sorcerer and performer seeing what they had and maybe daydreaming for a bit wouldn't hurt, would it? On top of that, nailing those that run a place like this or even their clientele could mean some serious income for her troupe if it worked out.

She stepped inside with a confident smirk on her lips... That smirk grew as a mirror happened to be one of the first things she spotted. While her first thought was curiosity over whether or not it was magical, she was also pleased to see that her silver and white hair hadn't gotten tossed around too much by the wind. The light coating of glitter on her caramel skin and light shadow around her lively eyes held up, too. A blue dress hugged her figure to accentuate toned muscle and blossoming curves while her multi-colored scarves, bracelets, arm-length gloves, and jewelry added enough vibrancy and mystique to draw and focus roaming gazes.

Carmelita let out a soft hum of satisfaction at her own appearance before she slowly padded around to take a look at a few of the other items as she gradually made her way to the counter armed with a couple of questions. People had a tendency to be more pliable to a potential customer, after all. If anything, a question about something in stock would serve as a great icebreaker.

From the outside the Emporium looked the part. A large, multistory merchants building, right at the border between the Coins and the Merchant Quarters ... yes, both the owners as well as the clientel would be well off, right? Not so fast. A closer look showed the signs of hard times. The frontage was in need of a paint work, many of the windows in the upper stores needed a thorough cleaning ... and what could be seen through those windows clean enough to let light in ... was looking more like some students parlor, than a shob.

Though at least the lower floor seemed to still house a magics shop, if a significantly scaled back one. Contrary to most such etablissements this one was very clean, and well lit, by means of the large windows in the front as well as several strategically placed magical lights. One of them being the mirror, whose rather plain white opaque frame was glowing in a nice blueish-white light. A trained eye would also recognize, that, while the room was packed with magical obscurities of all kinds, everything was arranged in a way that the single person behind the counter was able to watch the whole room.

Speaking of that person: when her newest customer approached, Eirian smiled friendly at her. The girl that was minding the store, looked a bit to young to have such a responsible position. Average height for a woman, but farily lithe, showing only the early blossomings of feminine curvature. Her soft face, and moreso the slightly pointy ears gave her away though as a half elf. Thus she was probably older than she looked. A look that wasn't helped by her wearing a simple dress, which was obviously choosen more for pragmatism and number of pockets, than chic or accentuation of her charms.

Carmelita had been in the process of bending to pick up a lute when she heard the employee’s voice. She tilted her head up towards the young woman and flashed her a bright smile before she stood and replied, “Dozens of ways, actually!” She held up a finger. “For one…” She jutted a thumb back towards the mirror. “I didn’t just get my soul stolen or anything, did I? Kidding. Stealing your customers’ souls would be bad for business… Unless you ransomed them off.” She furrowed her brow. “But then word would eventually spread about that, so any profits would be temporary at best and you’d be shut down ‘really’ quickly.”

She paused, then fixed her gaze on the adorable shopkeep. “Anyway. I see that you have a few magical instruments and I’m curious about the glow that mirror is giving off, which is great on paper, I think, because I apparently look great in moonlight. But what does it actually do? More importantly, what does that lute do? What do any of these instruments do?”

And there it was. The segue. “As a performer, I’d really love to know. I mean, I’m talented enough to not really need a magical gimmick…” To demonstrate, she unraveled the colorful scarf adorning her neck and spun it in an artful twirl as she lapsed into a momentary belly dance that ended in a smiling pose. “But then again, I'm pretty keen on occasionally spicing things up with an unexpected surprise.” She snapped the scarf outward, then spun and tied it back over her shoulders with one swift motion. “You should come see me perform tonight! I guarantee you’ll have a blast!”

Eirian smiled lightly. Apparently Carmelita wasn't the first to make that joke, nor the first "artist" to try to advertise. Still, the young merchant had never been one of the unfriendly kind, only looking for business.

"I doubt anything in here could steal your soul..." she said, "especially not the mirror Evershine, which is a rather simple trinket. Evershine is always clean and shiny as on the first day, as well as giving off that nice light. Despite its magical simplicity a rather sought after item, if moreso for wealthy ladies seeking some great furniture for their boudoir." she explained.

But when she saw Carmelita point towards the lute situated on a small pedestal which looked more like a work station than a sales place, she quickly shook her head. "I haven't fully researched this one. We just bought it yesterday from a down on his luck bard and ... well let's say it has some fairly chaotic properties. I will not sell it until I know more about it and ... I wouldn't suggest you aquire it either. There are at least two curses on it, and one is especially designed to ... aehm target young ladies of ... how do I put it politely..." she was visibly seeking for the right words ...

Carmelita felt her ego deflate as she realized that her humor and even her short dance did nothing to make the appear entertained or even curious. She briefly pouted her lips before she pulled it together and commented. "You don't take much time off, do you?"

She took a breath before she glanced at the mirror. "Forever clean sounds useful but I'd rather look into something I can carry with me or perform with or in." She shrugged. "I've always lived on the road."

The performer followed girl's gaze back to the lute and studied it carefully with a focused stare. "Hmm." She perked up at the mention of the curses, then quirked her eyebrow at the shopkeep. "Young ladies of what?" Carmelita crossed her arms. "You don't have to hold back. I'm a performer. I've heard it all, really." That said, she was still mentally preparing herself to shoot down whatever assumptions this person had about her.

Eirians reaction was clearly not as enthustiastic as the one Carmelita received in most quarters. Apparently the girl was neither bound to cheap lewdness, nor exotic sights... something rare in Absalom.

"Actually I'm only part time working here... but my time off is mostly filled with study and research." she stated matter of factly. There just wasn't much time nor interest left for "simple pleasures". After all, the same time and enthusiasm could be invested in some fasinating project or another. Thus it should be fairly obvious, that the young half-elf wasn't exactly a party animal.

"Well, it would be rather easy to enchant a smaller mirror. Best would probably be to use a prestidigitation spell for the clean, an unshattering or flexibility spell to make sure it doesn't break, and a magical light spell which can be turned on and off... the major drawback would be the price though. I doubt anyone would be willing to pay for such a travelling gadget, as the spells while minor, are not cheap." she helpfully explained, only hinting at the probable obstacle of Carmelitas level of wealth.

"Well as far as I have found out, it's named "the bawdy bards lewd lute" and yes, the enchantements are as convoluted as the name. While the instrument does seem to give some benefits to its user, it also holds at least two curses. One is to befall any male musician playing it, the other directed at any, erm young lady with ... experience ... in the lutes métier. I've not completely unravelled that one yet, so I'd suggest staying away from it." she said.

Tilting her head thinking, she even stood up quickly. "On second thought I'd probably better move it out of the public area and continue my research on it somewhere safer." and she crossed the distance to the pedestal, carefully taking the instrument from its resting place without touching the strings. With a few more steps she vanished shortly behind a curtain besides which a sign stated "adults only".

"How surprising." Carmelita replied in a deadpan tone when the half-elf mentioned studying and research as off time activities. A faint mix of boredom and annoyance crossed her features when the shop worker began explaining the process of enchanting the mirror, inconvenience, and prohibitive pricing. Her features lightened when she mentally reminded herself that the girl had no way of knowing that she was adept with magic but oh, the assumptions...

She did away with that last flash of bother when the young woman switched to talking about the lute and for a moment, she was genuinely interested. She didn't quite understand what lutes métier meant either, but the context gave her a few ideas. The musetouched girl mulled on that for a moment until the employee decided to move the instrument to an "adults only" area. She quirked her brow at that as the girl looked like she still had a bit of growing to do, herself. "Maybe you shouldn't..." She paused, "Oh, what do I care?"

Instead of waiting around for the research-minded lass to return, she decided to pull a flyer for her troupe from her bag and a quill to write, "Looks can be deceiving. ~C" on it. That done, she whispered a quick spell in Celestial to leave the item glowing and floating in the air just above the counter before she turned and started to head out.

Eirian needed just a few moments to find an adequately safe place for the lute, but when she returned, the shop was deserted. Only the flyer was left on the counter. Curious she cast a little cantrip of her own, starting to identify the spell on it.

Niklas stood before a building. He hoped it was the right one. The last two he'd tried were not the ones he was looking for. He was tall, with long, dark, unkempt hair, a beard that was just as long, and a smell that told everyone near him that this barbarian's people had yet to perfect plumbing. His leather satchel, which held all of his worldly possessions, as well as his clothing of furs and hides, were salty from the ocean. With a deep, centering breath, Niklas drew himself up and tried to look big, an easy thing to do. Then with a determined scowl, he entered the shop."Akorian!"